Prompt: What are examples of books you’ve thrown across the room? Why did you throw them?
Ah. A chance to rant. *rubs hands* Let’s go.
Dead End
This ending. Why.
So, the whole rest of the series is completely awesome. I loved all the other Red Rock Mysteries, but this book epically failed at tying up the series.
Through the whole series, there are a couple of subplots that progress very slowly. Let me show you how this one book slaughters them.
Subplot 1: Their dad’s killer
So their dad died in a plane crash. Seemingly an accident and all that. But apparently it wasn’t. The plane was made to crash by a terrorist who was actually trying to kill Sam, the guy who later becomes their stepdad. He wasn’t on the plane, so he survived, but he feels responsible for all those people who died in the crash. And so his whole secret agent career is centered on trying to find that terrorist and bring him to justice.
There aren’t too many updates on this front, but throughout the series it does keep you posted that Sam is still chasing the guy. He’ll catch him. Sometime. Presumably in the last book.
Subplot 2: Saving friends and family
This is a Christian book series, so of course there will be the question of salvation for the characters. There are three main targets of this subplot.
- Sam, the stepdad
- Leigh, the stepsister
- Marion, a friend of the main character girl, Ashley
And none of the previous books show them succeeding in convincing them of their need for salvation. It always ends on a rather wistful note of “Oh, they’ll see someday. Don’t worry.”
Of course, this also looked like it would wrap up in the last book.
I had some pretty big expectations for this book.
Big expectations that proceeded to be trampled into the mud never to rise again.
Okay, and now I’ll tell you how the book ends.
Bryce, the brother, is in his school, which is about to be blown up by the terrorist guy. He’s doing his best to stop the guy himself, but doesn’t succeed and gets locked in the basement. He gets out and onto the schoolyard, where he sees his stepdad and a bunch of police and secret agent people surrounding the building.
His stepdad says something along the lines of “This isn’t your fight, son.” And goes heroically towards the building to finally stop this fiend he’s been chasing all these years.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch . . . their house has been blown up by the terrorist’s henchmen and now sits in a pile of smoldering ruins along with all their earthly possessions. Thankfully, no one was there but their old dog, who was heartlessly shot down for no reason at all. The whole family except the stepdad comes back and gapes at the purposeless destruction for a few minutes before stepdad dramatically makes his entrance via black helicopter.
He informs them that the terrorist got away and they’ll probably never find him again. In the meantime, no one in town can know that their family survived the bombing of their house. They must move away and not tell any of their friends where they are going and as far as anyone in the world (except the government) is concerned, the Timberline family went up in a giant ball of flames.
Oh yeah, and no one they were trying to bring to God actually came to God. So, mission failure, I guess.
And the last page shows Bryce, dramatically looking off into the sunset by his new home and thinking “There must be some good in this, somewhere.”
WHAT THE HECK?!
I did not physically chuck it across the room (because I have little siblings and I don’t want to clock them in the head), but I did slam it down very angrily on the coffee table and stomp off to rant to my brother.
Someday I am going to rewrite that ending myself. A fanfiction to save the whole dang series for all the sorely disappointed fans out there.
Stone Fox
A little boy is trying to win a dogsled race for the prize money so he can help his poor, ailing grandfather. But he and his one dog (Searchlight) are going up against many professional racers, including the Indian, Stone Fox, and his team of seven big white huskies.
Okay, I like dogs. Dog stories are great. When the dog is heroic and smart and my favorite character it’s even better.
When you kill the dog off at the climactic moment and don’t even give any consolation of an achieved story goal to the poor, grieving main character . . .
No. Just don’t, please. What, do you think the readers are going to actually like that?
The dog is going as fast as she possibly can and then, 100 feet from the finish line, her heart bursts.
How fun.
The little boy does the whole “No! Don’t be dead!” thing and cries because his poor little heart is broken. And the only reason he wins is that Stone Fox has a change of heart, pulls out a shotgun and threatens to shoot anyone who tries to cross the finish line before the little boy.
The last page “happy ending” is that the little boy gets to drag the body of his dead dog over the finish line.
There’s an artfully sad ending, and then there’s that.
That.
It just broke my heart because it could.
Don’t do That.
Stone Fox got chucked halfway across the room. No one was there, but I didn’t want to hit the lamp.
Terrestria Chronicles: The Dragon’s Egg
This one, unlike the others actually had a happy ending. But the main character’s behavior through the whole book was inexcusable.
So, it’s an allegory. The classic medieval/Christian deal. Our *cough* hero, Josiah, is offered a dragon’s egg, something he is expressly forbidden by his King to own. At first he refuses, but then in the rousing spirit of “Eh, whatever” he accepts it. Josiah then proceeds to push aside his better judgment for 100 more pages.
And what’s ridiculous is that he knows what he’s supposed to do and, almost without exception in this book, ignores it, even when he sees it’s for his own good.
This was a read aloud in our family, and everyone agreed that we wanted to step in the book and give Josiah a slap. That should not be how the audience relates to main characters.
As I said before, this was a read-aloud, so if anyone could physically chuck the book, it would be my mom. But she had all her kids sitting around she and she’s a nice mom. So she probably waited until we were out of the room.
So, that about wraps up the books that live in infamy with me.
Writing about books I hate was a lot more fun than I expected. 🙂
What are some books you’ve thrown across the room and why?
Ever read any of the books I’ve listed?
Please comment!
~writefury
writefury 
I’ve never read any of the books you listed, however, I do have books I really did not like, some I finish reading and others I don’t finish reading. I liked this feature. Thanks for sharing.
Glad you enjoyed! 🙂
Actually, one time I did throw a book. “Sophie’s World.” I had already restrained myself from doing it countless times before, and since it was a school book, I didn’t really want to hurt Mom’s feelings by heaving it with all my might onto the floor. But, towards the end I couldn’t help myself. The ideas on what we actually are in life are borderline ridiculous, Sophie just believes everything she is told, without question, and the whole book is just a mess.
I’m pretty sure that’s the only book I’ve actually thrown, though I have had a few moments where a book almost flew out of my hands on it’s own, namely “Gulliver’s Travels,” and “Billy Bud: Sailor.”
~Chloe
My mom bought that book for me when I was little. I hated it. I couldn’t even finish it. It was a while ago so I’m not sure I actually threw it, but I at least wanted to.
*hangs head* A lot of times when I throw books, I throw my little brother’s books (that I hated to read) at him. So, yeah.
Well, now I’m glad I didn’t read the Sophie books. XD I did consider it, but better judgement and books won out. 😉
Thanks for commenting!
I have thrown “where the red ferns grow” why? it’s a dog book and I hate dog books, it’s not that I don’t like the book or dogs it’s that it’s a dog book so it will try to brake your heart because it can, not for a good read just to see how long it can make you sad, same with horse books.
I know. All dog books seem to end like that. 😛 “No More Dead Dogs” by Gordon Korman gave me vindication on that, though. 😉
Okay, so like, the best dog book I’ve ever read is “The Dutchmaster” by Brian Jacques, or something like that. Its been a long time since I’ve read it. But he is one of my favorite authors. I mean, like, throw him right in there with Lewis and Tolkien. He’s that good. He does the “Redwall” series. I can’t put them down!
I first read “Where the Red Fern Grows” when I was 8 or 9. I cried bitter, bitter tears at the end of it. How sweet.
Hmm.. Cool! I’ll have to look that up! Erin has told me about the redwall series before. 🙂
I only ever read the beginning of where the red fern grows. The happy part. Then I lost the book. 😛
Like, literally “lost” the book, or like “got rid of it”? : ) LOL
It doesn’t get really bad until Chapter 10. Its where a freak accident kills Reuben, who is like the bully of the book. Its kind of graphic, though! : (
But most books, I get wrapped up in the storyline, and can’t put the book down! That’s the way I am with Brian Jacques’ stuff. : )
And “Brainboy and the Deathmaster” by Tor Seidler, even though I’ve read it like 4 times the past 6 months. There are some books that are interesting to read, but you just have to do it in tiny little chunks because it puts you to sleep. Know what I’m talking about? : )
So that’s the way “The Screwtape Letters” is by C.S. Lewis. Its really good, very interesting, and puts a whole new twist on your Christian worldview, but, man alive! I can only read like 20 pages at a time. And then of course, I put it down, and I’m wide awake! haha
I skipped over the whole Red Rock Mysteries part because I started that series with my dad and haven’t finished it yet… the only book on here I’ve read is Stone Fox… I read that in, what, second or third grade? I actually liked the ending – and I don’t mean liked it like “Yay, the dog’s dead!” but more like “Awww… it made me cry! Books never make me do that…”
Yeah the whole series of the Red Rock Mysteries is awesome. But for the sake of your respect for the whole series DO NOT READ DEAD END. Unless you want to rewrite the ending before I get to it, in which case, be my guest. 😛
I teared up a little at the 2nd Peleg Chronicles book, but other than that I’ve actually never cried at a book. Dog deaths just make me mad most of the time. 😛
YES!!! finely some one else that dose not cry at book!
XD We’ll see… I think we finally got book two, and I have books three and four, so hopefully we’ll get to read those soon. We’re finishing up a different trilogy that is just TOTALLY AWESOME!
Oh, I cried after reading Bill Wallace’s Beauty, although A Dog Called Kitty didn’t make me cry as much. HE IS SO CRUEL!!!!
The 6th one, though…. don’t read it before bed.
How they switch off the viewpoints in those is brilliant. I plowed through those soooo fast! 😉
I haven’t read that one, but… oh, I just remembered. I cried at Penderwicks in Spring. Their dog, Hound, reminded me of Gilligan and then he died. And… augh. I was just reliving the whole thing reading it. 😛
Yesss, exactly!
SHUSH!!!!! I haven’t read that one yet!!!!!!!
*hand over mouth* sorry. But they tell you that straight off, so I haven’t ruined too much. 😉
*sigh*
But it doesn’t really go into it until later in the book. 😥 It’s so sad. *hand over mouth again*
HUSH CHILD. XD
*books
Oh boy. Stone Fox, yep.
If I remember correctly, I had a similar response to several books with equally ambiguous or uninteresting or poorly-written endings.
I know. Bad endings are the worst. That’s one of the most important parts to get right. The end of Josephine Tey’s The Singing Sands made me so happy. 🙂 And I can’t tell why. Spoilers. 😛
😛 Ahhh. 😉
Gone With the Wind. It might be the only one. I couldn’t stand it that it makes the reader root for such a jerk of a character as Scarlett. Hated it. And then, of course, it’s about 800 pages, so I had spent most of 3 days being indulged by my mom to have time to read so I could get to the end and see her turn around. Not so much. Blech! Definitely would have chucked it, but the book was a hardback and didn’t belong to me, so I contained myself.
The Dragon’s Egg, however, while I was angry with the character of the Prince, I do believe was masterfully done by the author, because it so carried the point about how each of us tends to continue in sin, even though we know better. It is a frustrating book to read, undoubtedly, but I appreciate the point, and think it succeeded in making it. Pretty torturous way to get there, though.
Well, thank you for warning me so I never have to read it. ;P
Agreed. The point could have been gotten across in a lot less frustrating way. 😉
I have read one book in the “Red Rock” mysteries, and LOVED it!
You didn’t have to tell me how it ended, you know! lol
I have experienced a book like that. Its about a little boy who gets lost on a prairie and a badger (yeah, you read right: a badger) takes him in, and feeds him and stuff. Then his family finds him after about 6 months, I think, and he’s half-wild. Even bit his brother on the shoulder when he goes to rescue him. The badger joins the family, and everyone loves it. Then, a neighbor shoots the badger, and that’s the end of the story.
Oh, and they did say something along the lines of, “The body was still warm. Was that a small breath of air coming from her cracked lips? It was kind of hard to tell in the dark light…”, or some nonsense like that!!
I wrote the author and offered him my editing services. (jk)
Really?!
Trust me. Just stop at the second to last book. Close your eyes, and think of happy endings. The last book is… It’s just a train wreck of any semblance of happy.
Oh my gosh that’s horrible! I just can’t see what authors like that are thinking. Are they just trying to squeeze tears out of their readers at any cost? Because a book makes you cry it’s gotta be good, right? 😕
Uh, I’m sorry! Could you pass that by me again?
In what world does a recipe for a book that makes you cry suddenly spell success?
Seriously, you know how authors come by that… that wreckage? They go to college! They get taught Literaturical psychology or something, and that suddenly makes them an expert on the subject!
I enjoy a book with a twist, and I love to read about characters with class! Take O’ Henry, for instance. Love it!
I have an aunt who is an artist, and actually studied in Europe under several famous artists, and she told me “never go to college! All they do is stereo-type your brain.” In other words, of course.
An artist is someone who has an artistic knack. A famous (or famous-to-be) artist is someone who beats their own path. Does their own thing. Like, song-writing, for instance. All my friends, say like “omg, yes, I am copying Taylor Swift’s style” or “the best style to copy is Justin Bieber’s”. Really?! They ask me who I pattern mine after, I’m like, “well, uh, does my music sound like I’ve been copying someone?” They can’t argue with me, then. : ) lol